1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spirit level with a spirit level body having an I-shaped cross section, end caps arranged at the end faces of the spirit level body and at least one spirit level vial mounted in the spirit level body. Each end cap has a plate-like base member which is rectangular in the elevational view thereof and whose height and width corresponds to the height and width of the I-shaped cross section of the spirit level body. The base member has on one side thereof two wing lugs which define a gap therebetween. The width of the gap between the wing lugs corresponds to the wall thickness of the web of the spirit level body which is I-shaped in cross section.
2. Description of the Related Art
Spirit level bodies having the above-described cross section are usually constructed as aluminum sections. The individual spirit level bodies intended for a spirit level are cut in the desired length from sectional members. As a result, the end faces of the spirit level bodies frequently have sharp edges and can cause injury to the user of the spirit level. For this reason, end caps are provided at the end faces, wherein the end caps not only have the purpose of eliminating the danger of injury, but also serve to protect the end of the section, which is necessary because experience has shown that spirit levels are usually not treated in the manner which would be appropriate for a measuring device, particularly on construction sites. Rather, spirit levels are subjected to extremely rough operating conditions on construction sites.
A spirit level with an end cap of the type described above is illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,303. The end cap is of a resistant plastics material and has at a base member two spaced-apart wing lugs which receive therebetween the web of the spirit level body extending between the two flanges of the I-shaped spirit level body. The end cap is fastened in some manner, for example, by gluing, by means of fasteners or similar measures.